(The Monday Wake Up Call will be published on Tuesday.)
Plenty of Super Bowl-adjacent cartoons this week but let’s start by looking at two overlooked stories. First, the Nevada primary. It’s another case where the media decided there wasn’t anything worthwhile to cover. Except for Nevada’s own journalist, John Ralston:
Seems as if no one’s reporting that Biden got twice as many votes as Trump in the Nevada primary. Maybe they’re still covering Robert Hur’s feelings about Biden?
“The drugs dispensed included Fentanyl. Morphine, Ketamine, Hydrocodone, Provigil, Ambien, Diazepam, Versed, and Tramadol.”
Neither the pharmacy nor the WH’s clinical operations were credentialed by an outside agency. However, they saw an average of 6 to 20 of the patients seen each week who were not eligible to receive care from the pharmacy. There was little mainstream media coverage of this story. On to cartoons.
Everybody likes the commercials:
It’s hard to escape politics even at America’s biggest show:
Even the Super Bowl’s real narratives will get twisted:
We’ve made it to Sunday, meaning we’ll see another week of speculation about the Super Bowl. But today, Wrongo wants to briefly talk about two events. First, Georgia’s Trump prosecutor Fani Willis admitted that she’s been having an affair with Nathan Wade, the man she hired to head the prosecution of Donald Trump and others for election fraud in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Since not everyone loves a lover (see Swift, Taylor), this has caused the scheduled Trump trial to at best, be postponed while Georgia figures out if there is sufficient grounds for Willis to step down.
It’s true that none of this makes any of the facts of the case less truthful. And the affair didn’t stop a unanimous grand jury from indicting 19 people. Moreover, it doesn’t make any of Trump’s actions any less damaging to our country. It’s just another way for Republicans to shift attention away from Trump, not by showing why he’s innocent, but by pretending those who are holding him accountable are actually the bad people.
This is a great example of why professional boundaries exist and should be respected. Willis and Wade have opened themselves up to scrutiny by working together on such a high-profile case while being romantically involved. It will at the very least delay and could risk this consequential prosecution.
Second, the US strikes in Iraq and Syria have been panned/condemned by many media and politicians. In truth, the strikes were on Iran’s Quds Force operating in both countries. This is an escalation from Biden’s former reactions to attacks in Syria and Iraq, and it’s a significant escalation. From David Rothkopf:
“This is a carefully thought-out attack. It is what would be called in baseball “a purpose pitch.” It was conceived to send a strong message to Iran: “Don’t mess with us”….Hitting 85 targets, with bombers from the US and aircraft from across the region…on short notice and the promise of more to come sends a message that goes beyond retaliation….I see a lot of folks calling this an escalation and striking…Quds Force targets is that. But it is also an escalation designed to deter future strikes and avoid further escalations. Which was called for in this case.”
There is so many negative narratives out there that Wrongo wanted to add his two cents on these. Now on to cartoons.
Owens River, east of Big Pine, CA – 2022 photo by Brian Joliffe
Tomorrow brings the Super Bowl, an American cultural icon that transcends football. Even people who don’t watch football watch the Super Bowl. Advertising executives know that it is the one time each year when most Americans are tuned into one show at the same time, across most forms of media.
It’s watched by roughly 100 million viewers. Given the fragmentation of our media, it’s a huge number of eyeballs to find in one place. That’s why Super Bowl commercials cost so much. NBC, broadcaster of this year’s game, sold out all of its Super Bowl ad space for $7 million per 30 second spot.
And though it may only last for a short time, this is the first time in 22 years that the Super Bowl will be played when the country is not officially at war.
On Sunday, the Super Bowl halftime show will be a celebration of hip hop, featuring Los Angeles rap heroes Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Kendrick Lamar. That places hip hop firmly at the center of the Super Bowl for the first time. The show will also star Eminem and Mary J. Blige.
Depending on who you ask, that’s either one of the greatest classic hip-hop lineups ever assembled, or way too much lineup for a show that only lasts for about 13 minutes, less than 3 minutes per artist.
This isn’t the first time the Super Bowl has included rap music. But it’s had a rocky path to headliner status. Headlining this year’s event comes at a time when the NFL is again confronting issues regarding its tin ear about race.
Since 2016, when the quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police killings of Black people, the league has faced questions about its commitment to diversity and social justice. Brian Flores, a Black NFL head coach who was fired last month, sued the league, claiming he and others had been discriminated against during various teams’ hiring processes.
This year, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg are taking the NFL in a different direction, and that may be the idea. The NYT quotes Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, who headlined the show in 2011:
“At one point, Dre was in a group that was banned by popular culture,”
Will.i.am is referring to Dr. Dre’s gangster rap group NWA, widely considered in the late 1980s to be one of the greatest and most influential groups in the history of hip hop music. Their music had explicit lyrics, and many viewed NWA as misogynistic. They also glorified drugs and crime.
Their work was banned from many mainstream American radio stations. In spite of this, the group has sold over 10 million albums in the US. Wrongo’s favorite NWA cut is “Fuck Tha Police” from their 1988 album “Straight Outta Compton”. You should take a listen, but don’t hate on Wrongo if you despise it.
Or maybe we haven’t moved on. But right now, the league needs to embrace Black music and culture to help shore up its badly damaged community bona fides.
And there’s the open secret: The NFL, a fabulously wealthy sports league whose least valuable team is worth more than $2 billion, doesn’t pay its Super Bowl performers. They consider their halftime show to be music’s ultimate for-exposure gig. But how much is that exposure worth when multiple performers are competing for just 13 minutes of attention?
On to our Saturday Soother. Weather is positively spring-like in Connecticut, so Wrongo will venture outside for some way-too-early spring cleanup. After that we have a family party followed by making turkey chili and queso con chorizo for Sunday’s extravaganza.
It’s time for you to forget about Trump’s missing call logs from Jan. 6, and grab a seat by a window. Now, plug in your Bluetooth headphones and listen to John Williams, who turned 90 this week. Here’s his “Cowboys Overture” from the 1972 film, “The Cowboys” starring John Wayne.
It’s played live in 2020 by the Film Symphony Orchestra, Spain’s first orchestra specializing in cinematic music:
While you listen, to this mythical view of the west, do you hear echoes of Aaron Copeland?
Buzzfeed reports that the right-wing social media platform Parler offered Trump a stake in the company if he would post exclusively with them:
“Talks between members of Trump’s campaign and Parler about Trump’s potential involvement began last summer, and were revisited in November by the Trump Organization after Trump lost the 2020 election….Documents seen by BuzzFeed News show that Parler offered the Trump Organization a 40% stake in the company.”
Parler was focused on building a social network that would serve as an alternative to Facebook and Twitter by taking a much more lax approach to content moderation. By late 2020, it had become a go-to online gathering place for hate groups, conspiracy theorists, and believers in the QAnon mass delusion. It also had attracted prominent Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Devin Nunes.
The deal was never finalized, and the discussion was derailed when Parler was deplatformed after the Jan. 6 coup attempt.
Still, some legal experts say Trump could have legal trouble. Scott Amey, general counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, said it warranted an immediate criminal investigation:
“A company’s mere act of offering a stake for the president’s participation looks unethical and deserves further scrutiny….If the offer included anything of value…that would almost certainly be illegal, and he should be held accountable.”
Trump “accountable’? Never happening. Enjoy the Super Bowl, if that’s your thing. On to cartoons.
Super Bowl Sunday has finally come. Wrongo made chili and a new batch of tomatillo sauce. Everybody likes a day when we’re free to eat and drink whatever is set in front of us. The Super Bowl has become a de facto holiday, one for which calories don’t count.
Trump likes to gloat that the NFL is in real trouble. Thanks to him, no one watches the games. Everyone is too angry at the uppity black football players, many of whom have knelt during the national anthem. He ignores that they are protesting police brutality against African-Americans. Despite What Trump says, today’s game will be the most-watched TV broadcast of the year. The Super Bowl is the last unifying moment when the whole country tunes in together.
Howard Schultz’s decision to run has made enemies of some Democrats:
Trump’s dream order:
Saturday was Groundhog Day. Trump didn’t see a wall:
Trump says Intelligence Chiefs are wrong about threats:
A few words about the Nunes memo: We had already heard all that it contains, so there’s nothing new to chew on except today’s Super Bowl nachos. Its main argument is that somehow, super-crafty Democrats, in league with the FBI, tricked four separate FISA judges into extending surveillance on suspected foreign agent, and Trump campaign staffer Carter Page. How? By omitting that the “primary source” of the information on Page was the “paid-for-by-Democrats” Steele dossier, which is “compromised by partisanship“.
Except that the Nunes Memo doesn’t prove any of this. The initial FISA warrant against Carter Page was based on the fact that the guy was a known counterintelligence risk who was in the habit of traveling to Moscow and Budapest and mixing with Kremlin officials and spies. The Steele Dossier took independent note of this, (which speaks to Steele’s ability to uncover at least some real information), but Page’s activities were already suspect, regardless of who paid Steele.
So, no matter what the Nunes memo claims, Steele’s information wasn’t crucial to their interest in Page, who had been under FISA surveillance since 2013 for his contacts with Russian spies in NYC.
The idea that the FBI only pursued Page because certain members of its management had Democratic sympathies is ridiculous. Would Trump have traded how he was treated by the FBI in October 2016 for the way Clinton was treated?
The FBI actually told the NYT that they gave Trump a clean bill of health. They incorrectly assured the public that Trump’s campaign was not being investigated for its ties to the Russians when that was exactly what they were doing. Were they in cahoots with Democrats when they did that?
Democrats must learn to pick their battles. Why scream about releasing a memo that most people (excluding Trumpsters) can now see is a nothingburger? Â What exactly were they trying to keep secret? Â Ordinary people don’t appreciate Chicken Little behavior. And most of the time they will give equal weight to Chicken Little A and Chicken Little B, because that’s how they have learned to deal with squabbling children.
Americans SO want politics to be honorable. Â It’s not. It’s just war by other means, on other battlefields.
Shots were fired from the Peanut Gallery:
Nunes actually said what he meant:
State of the Union speech was damaging to Democrats:
The article is called: “How to behave in the age of Trump? Five essential lessons for Republicans”. Their guy did win, but even patriotic, heterosexual Conservatives aren’t always going to buy everything that the Orange Overlord is selling, without some instruction. Here are a few of Fox’s commandments:
1 . Don’t help the Democrats
We get it, maybe you don’t like Trump…maybe you are not certain he is a real conservative…Maybe you are right…But this is not about you. The Democrats are busily marginalizing themselves by being shrill, caustic, and vulgar. Give them room to do this…
Show Restraint
Don’t take potshots…One more tweet on the oddity that was the first press briefing by the press secretary helps no one…See point number 1, do not help the Democrats.
Give the Trump Presidency a Chance to Succeed
Trump had no chance of winning. So now, the same line of thinking holds that he has no chance of being a successful president…Every Republican needs to accept this truth — you need him to succeed, for the good of the country, and the party.
Having been the vocal, disrespectful minority for a considerable time, it stands to reason they might not yet know how to deal with success.On to humor.
Hypocrisy was on full display by Mitch McConnell:
Gorsuch’s nomination proves that the GOP knows nothing about irony:
The National Prayer Breakfast showed Trump at his best:
Trump’s call for allowing religion in politics is Islam tested, Ayatollah approved:
Trump fails in his first use of our military in Yemen:
Today’s Super Bowl marks the end of the football season, but still overshadows the political silly season, that will be with us for what will seem to be a long, long time.
Things to look for in Super Bowl 50:
“And, when we score a touchdown, make sure you know your assignments for the end-zone celebration.”
And what to look for in your living room:
But, even at the Super Bowl, the problem of football concussions isn’t going away:
So far, the Democratic race is between an idealist Grandpa and a wonk Grandma:
In New Hampshire the political woods are full of free running saps:
Something not so super this week was this dickhead:
Waaay too many Mexican appetizers last night, not to mention margaritas and beer. Anyway, another national football excess is in the record books, congrats to Tom Brady and the Patriots.
Get your day started with this hilarious meditation on football vs. baseball by the great George Carlin:
Monday’s hot links: There’s no such thing as Nacho cheese. On the day after the Super Bowl, when so much nacho cheese was consumed, this shows how little can be taken for granted. Inquiring minds are wondering—do people expect nacho cheese to be a particular flavor? Or color? Or texture? Or is it just any cheese that happens to be on nacho chips? Here’s the truth: There are no standards for nacho cheese, it is just whatever we believe it to be. Does this bring up deeper, non-cheese-related existential questions?
Mississippi has the highest vaccination rate for school-age children. It’s not even close. Last year, 99.7% of the state’s kindergartners were fully vaccinated. In California, epicenter of the Disney measles outbreak, almost 8% of kindergartners (41,000 children) were not immunized against mumps, measles and rubella. In Oregon, it was 6.8%. In Pennsylvania, it was nearly 15%! The secret of Mississippi’s success stems from a strict mandatory vaccination law that lacks the loopholes found in almost every state.
Certainly in our lifetime, it’s one of the biggest, if not the biggest operation in terms of complexity, size, and cost.
The dirty little secret is that our military knows how to get people, weapons and supplies into a war zone, but has little experience getting them back out. This may cost the taxpayers more than $2 billion before it is done.
China has sent drones to Nigeria. As the Boko Haram insurgency enters its 7th year, China is busy building a better relationship by selling drones, MRAP vehicles and smart bombs to Nigeria, (most of which the US has been unwilling to provide to Nigeria due to human rights concerns). China wants to become a first tier exporter of military equipment, and is looking to lock up Nigeria as a supplier of oil. On January 25, 2015, a photo appeared online showing a Chinese CH-3 UCAV drone which crashed in Nigeria’s Borno Province. Borno is the area where much of the Boko Haram violence occurred in 2014.
Your thought for the week: We hear all the time from yahoos on the web and yahoos in Congress something like this:
Isn’t it unfair that corporate dividends are taxed twice?
The answer is no, and here’s why:
A corporation is a legal entity. If it has an “accession to wealth” (meaning, a profit in tax legalese), in our system, the corporation must pay taxes. A stockholder is also a legal entity. If a stockholder receives a dividend, he/she also has an “accession to wealth”, and thus, pays a tax.
Why is this hard to understand? No one claims that when a worker gets paid a wage, and pays a tax on that income, and later spends some of that after-tax income paying someone to mow their lawn, that it is double-taxation for the lawn guy to pay income tax.
This is really simple folks: Money moves from entity, to entity, to entity, and each time, income tax applies.
And, if someone makes the argument that the shareholder is the corporation, they don’t get what a corporation is. It’s a separate legal entity that exists to protect shareholders from the business’s liabilities. The fact that it pays taxes is a normal consequence, and the entire point of its existence.
The Super Bowl is today. There will be queso con chorizo and enchiladas at the Mansion of Wrong.
It was a busy week. Obama has bromance with India’s Prime Minister Modi, then flies to the funeral of the Saudi King. The Republican beauty pageant began; we learned that the Koch brothers plan to spend nearly $900 million to elect Republicans in 2016, but Mitt isn’t running. Mitt didn’t leave gracefully, but perhaps he showed the self-awareness to avoid further indignities. He signed off calling for an “end to the grip of poverty,” which, considering the source, should be received by most with something between a snort and a laugh.
The Koch brothers are almost their own political party. The biggest contenders for the Republican nomination went to Palm Springs for their audition with the Koch funding team. This means if you are a candidate, you will shade your story and beliefs to please the Kochs and their fellow travelers. That means you are going to spend more thought about getting and keeping your Koch money, and less time thinking about which policies matter. Or maybe, its just birds of a feather.
Choose your poison at the SB:
Thank you, Supreme Court, politics is now forever in your debt, and democracy has left the building:
We will soon leave the snow season for the money season:
Mitt decides not to be the next Adlai Stevenson:
Mr. Obama visits Saudi Arabia, makes sales call:
When will they ever learn?
Your word for the week: Agnotology.
Agnotology is the study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data.
Does this concept bring to mind any particular group?
Trump’s call for allowing religion in politics is Islam tested, Ayatollah approved:
